Continual play throughout our lives is beneficial for both the brain and body, as has been reported in study after study. It’s part of our nature to seek challenge, achievement, levels of success, and winning the prize. In business, this engagement with games and love of winning can come to your advantage in many ways.

Gamification uses elements of gaming, such as competition and winning, in a non-game context to improve productivity and engage “players.” It draws on our innately human desire towards status and achievement to help reach outside goals. Think parenting with stars, or points for prizes. Translated into business, the practice is being used to many ends, including encouraging engagement with a product or service, or boosting customer loyalty programs through reputation points and badges of achievement.

Over 70% of Global 2000 companies now use gamificationfor marketing purposes and customer retention.(Source: Mashable)

Even though the concepts behind gamification are older than Mary Poppins’ spoonful of sugar itself, the word is fairly new. Early usage of the word dates back to 2002 to describe the work of computer programmer Nick Pelling. Although it didn’t really catch on until about 2010 when it began to be used to describe methods of incorporating reward aspects into software in ways that started to attract the attention of venture capitalists and Ted Talks alike.

Why Use Gamification in Your Business?

Gaming techniques have been proven to leverage people’s natural desires for mastery, competition, achievement, and status. One key way to use gamification to your company’s benefit is internally, to improve employee performance. When employees are awarded points that be can traded in for gift cards and other prizes, their performance starts to improve markedly. This is especially true when points are earned in a transparent and celebrated way within the work culture.

In his book, Stop Marketing, Be Remarkable, ReviewBuzz founder Mike Montano states, “Incentives are more than just a tool for motivating your team members. They provide the validation that winning customer reviews have a direct positive benefit. . . start with the dangling carrot of incentives.”

Montano says this of the way ReviewBuzz first employed gamification through a highly visible scoreboard to encourage employees to collect emails from customers, “By keeping score, this one method created immediate, dramatic improvements. It also led to healthy competition among the staff to push themselves to do better than their previous numbers and their colleagues.” Ultimately, he says, this approach manifested a culture of discipline, accountability, and empowerment.

How to Leverage Gamification in Your Business

To use gamification in your own business, you want to start by identifying key players. This means managers, leaders, and front line personnel. Engage key players who will inspire and influence the rest to the team to play to their full potential. This helps keep motivation alive.

A successful gamification system serves five purposes:

Tracks and rewards efficient employees

Tracks who is lagging

Encourages competition

Connects and engages employees

Validates efforts publically

Be sure to award employees publically to create a sense of pride, and build momentum with a game-like experience such as raffle tickets, prize wheels, and non-cash rewards. A good place to look to maximize these techniques is company rallies. This kind of platform to celebrate accomplished goals also serves as a catalyst for the next round of competition.

From tracking systems to company rallies, gamification at the workplace can turn ordinary tasks into a fun and rewarding challenge. Incentives motivate and encourage, and the accolades and healthy competition that goes along with them provide validation that winning matters. Truly, for the business world, this is a win-win.

Your Privacy. Our Priority.

Privacy & Terms

Effective Date: May 7, 2013

Welcome to www.reviewbuzz.com (“Website”) a Website owned and operated by ReviewBuzz, Inc. This Website is maintained as a service to our users. However, whether you use this Website as a casual visitor, registered user, or paid subscriber by using this Website, you agree to comply with and be bound by the following terms of use (the “Terms”) whether you have read them or not. Please review these Terms of use carefully. Your continued use of the Website and its services constitutes acceptance of any modified terms and conditions. Therefore you should review these Terms of use from time to time. If you do not agree to these Terms of use, you are not authorized to use this Website; you should leave the Website and discontinue the use of the services immediately.

These terms and conditions are effective immediately for those registering accounts after May 1, 2013, and will become effective May 2, 2013, for those with pre-existing accounts. Previous terms are available, by clicking here.

If we make material changes to these Terms, we will notify you by email or by posting a notice on the Website prior to the effective date of the changes.

Definitions

“you” and “your” refer to you, as a user of the Website.

A “user” is someone who accesses, browses, or in any way uses the Website.

“Your Content” means Content that you submit or transmit to, through, or in connection with the Website, such as ratings, reviews, compliments, messages, and information that you publicly display or displayed in your account profile.

“User Content” means Content that users submit or transmit to, through, or in connection with the Website.

“ReviewBuzz Content” means Content that we create and make available in connection with the Website.

“Third Party Content” means Content that originates from parties other than ReviewBuzz or its users, which is made available in connection with the Website.

“Website Content” means all of the Content that is made available in connection with the Website, including Your Content, User Content, Third Party Content, and ReviewBuzz Content.

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Permission to Use the Website. We grant you permission to use the Website subject to the restrictions in these Terms. Your use of the Website is at your own risk, including the risk that you might be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent, inaccurate, objectionable, or otherwise inappropriate. ReviewBuzz grants you a limited, revocable, nonexclusive license to use this Website solely for your own personal use and not for republication, distribution, assignment, sublicense, sale, preparation of derivative works, or other use. Any use not authorized hereunder, must be separately authorized in writing. You agree not to copy materials on the site, reverse engineer or break into the Website, or use Content, products or services in violation of any law. The use of this Website is at our discretion and we may terminate your use of this Website at any time.

Availability of Website. The Website may be modified, updated, interrupted, suspended or discontinued at any time without notice or liability.

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Communications from ReviewBuzz and other Users. By creating an account, you agree to receive certain communications in connection with the Website. You can opt-out of non-essential communications within your account settings.

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Ownership. As between you and ReviewBuzz, you own Your Content. We own the ReviewBuzz Content, including but not limited to images, visual interfaces, interactive features, graphics, design, compilation, including, but not limited to, our compilation of User Content and other Website Content, computer code, products, software, aggregate user review ratings, and all other elements and components of the Website excluding Your Content, User Content and Third Party Content. We also own the copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade names, and other intellectual and proprietary rights throughout the world (“IP Rights”) associated with the ReviewBuzz Content and the Website, which are protected by copyright, trade dress, patent, trademark laws and all other applicable intellectual and proprietary rights and laws. As such, you may not modify, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works or adaptations of, publicly display or in any way exploit any of the ReviewBuzz Content in whole or in part except as expressly authorized by us. Except as expressly provided herein, we do not grant you any express or implied rights, and all rights in and to the Website and the ReviewBuzz Content are retained by us.

Advertising. ReviewBuzz and its licensees may publicly display advertisements and other information adjacent to or included with Your Content, for which you are not entitled to any compensation.

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Other Users. We are under no obligation to enforce the Terms on your behalf against another user. While we encourage you to let us know if you believe another user has violated the Terms, we reserve the right to investigate and take appropriate action at our sole discretion. User Content (including any that may have been created by users employed or contracted by ReviewBuzz) does not necessarily reflect the opinion of ReviewBuzz. We reserve the right to remove, screen, edit, or reinstate User Content from time to time at our sole discretion for any reason or no reason, and without notice to you. For example, we may remove a review if we believe it violates these Terms. We have no obligation to retain or provide you with copies of Your Content, nor do we guarantee any confidentiality with respect to Your Content.

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Writing a defamatory or fictitious review, trading reviews with other businesses, or compensating someone or being compensated to write or remove a review;

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Any action that damages or disrupts the Website or function of the Website or services provided through the Website;

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Displaying pornographic material or sexually explicit material of any kind;

Soliciting passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other users; or recording, processing, or mining information about other users;

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Accessing the Website through any means other than the interfaces provided for use in the Website. Reverse engineer any portion of the Website;

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Accessing, retrieving or indexing any portion of the Website for purposes of constructing or populating a searchable database of business reviews;

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Taking any action that imposes, or may impose, in our sole discretion, an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on ReviewBuzz’s technology infrastructure or otherwise make excessive traffic demands of the Website;

Attempting to gain unauthorized access to the Website, user accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Website through hacking, password mining or any other means;

Using the Website or any Website Content to transmit any computer viruses, worms, defects, Trojan horses or other items of a destructive nature (collectively, “Viruses”);

Using any device, software or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Website, or otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Website;

Using the Website to violate the security of any computer network, crack passwords or security encryption codes; disrupt or interfere with the security of, or otherwise cause harm to, the Website or Website Content; or

Any unauthorized access to the Website is a breach of these Terms and may be a violation of the law. Additionally, we reserve the right at any time, without prior notice and at its sole discretion to terminate any account, remove any post or comment, or take any action for violating the above rules of conduct or causing any disruption to the Website or services provided thereby.

You agree not to provide your password or other login information to any other person and to notify ReviewBuzz by emailing info@reviewbuzz.com of any known or suspected unauthorized use of your login information. You should remember to sign out or log off of the Website when you are not using the services. We recommend that you close the session window, particularly if you are accessing the Website from a public computer.

The restrictions above only apply to the extent permissible under applicable law. Nevertheless, you agree not to act contrary to them (even if permissible under applicable law) without providing 30 days’ prior written notice to us here, together with any information that we may reasonably require to give us an opportunity to provide alternative remedies or otherwise accommodate you at our sole discretion.

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Copyrights and Copyright Agent. If you believe your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide a notice containing all of the following information to our Copyright Agent:

(a) An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;

(b) A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;

(c) A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Website;

(d) Your address, telephone number, and e-mail address;

(e) A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

(f) A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

Our Copyright Agent for Notice of claims of copyright infringement on the Website is ReviewBuzz, who can be reached as follows:

By Mail: 1068 La Mirada Ct., Vista, CA 92081

By Phone: 1-760-407-8080

By e-mail: info@reviewbuzz.com

Similarly, if you create a business owner’s account on the Website or purchase advertising from ReviewBuzz, the terms of the paid subscription as set forth in the applicable Purchase Order will apply. In the event of any conflict between the ReviewBuzz Purchase Order and these Terms, the ReviewBuzz preprinted terms of the Purchase Order will prevail.

Feedback. By sending us any ideas, suggestions, documents or proposals (“Feedback”), you agree that (i) your Feedback does not contain the confidential or proprietary information of third parties, (ii) we are under no obligation of confidentiality, express or implied, with respect to the Feedback, (iii) we may have something similar to the Feedback already under consideration or in development, and (iv) you grant us an irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide license to use, modify, prepare derivative works, publish, distribute and sublicense the Feedback, and you irrevocably waive, and cause to be waived, against ReviewBuzz and its users any claims and assertions of any moral rights contained in such Feedback.

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Disclaimers and Limitations Of Liability.

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY SINCE IT LIMITS THE LIABILITY OF THE REVIEWBUZZ ENTITIES TO YOU. EACH OF THE SUBSECTIONS BELOW ONLY APPLIES UP TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. NOTHING HEREIN IS INTENDED TO LIMIT ANY RIGHTS YOU MAY HAVE WHICH MAY NOT BE LAWFULLY LIMITED. IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT THIS OR ANY OTHER SECTION OF THESE TERMS, PLEASE CONSULT WITH A LEGAL PROFESSIONAL PRIOR TO ACCESSING OR USING THE WEBSITE. BY ACCESSING OR USING THE WEBSITE, YOU REPRESENT THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREE TO THESE TERMS, INCLUDING THIS SECTION. YOU ARE GIVING UP SUBSTANTIAL LEGAL RIGHTS BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS.

THE WEBSITE IS MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU ON AN “AS IS”, “WITH ALL FAULTS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITH THE EXPRESS UNDERSTANDING THAT THE REVIEWBUZZ ENTITIES MAY NOT MONITOR, CONTROL, OR VET USER CONTENT. AS SUCH, YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK. THE REVIEWBUZZ ENTITIES MAKE NO CLAIMS OR PROMISES ABOUT THE QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR RELIABILITY OF THE WEBSITE, ITS SAFETY OR SECURITY, OR THE WEBSITE CONTENT. ACCORDINGLY, THE REVIEWBUZZ ENTITIES ARE NOT LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE THAT MIGHT ARISE, FOR EXAMPLE, FROM THE WEBSITE’S INOPERABILITY, UNAVAILABILITY OR SECURITY VULNERABILITIES OR FROM YOUR RELIANCE ON THE QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR RELIABILITY OF THE BUSINESS LISTINGS, RATINGS, REVIEWS, METRICS OR REVIEW FILTER FOUND ON, USED ON, OR MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE WEBSITE.

THE REVIEWBUZZ ENTITIES MAKE NO CLAIMS OR PROMISES WITH RESPECT TO ANY THIRD PARTY, SUCH AS THE BUSINESSES OR ADVERTISERS LISTED ON THE WEBSITE OR THE WEBSITE’S USERS. ACCORDINGLY, THE REVIEWBUZZ ENTITIES ARE NOT LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE THAT MIGHT ARISE FROM THEIR ACTIONS OR OMISSIONS, INCLUDING, FOR EXAMPLE, IF ANOTHER USER OR BUSINESS MISUSES YOUR CONTENT, IDENTITY OR PERSONAL INFORMATION, OR IF YOU HAVE A NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE WITH ONE OF THE BUSINESSES OR ADVERTISERS OR OTHER USERS LISTED OR FEATURED ON THE WEBSITE. YOUR PURCHASE AND USE OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES OFFERED BY THIRD PARTIES THROUGH THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK.

THE REVIEWBUZZ ENTITIES EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES AS TO THE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES OFFERED BY BUSINESSES LISTED ON THE WEBSITE, AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE PROVIDED TO YOU BY A REPRESENTATIVE OF ONE OF THE REVIEWBUZZ ENTITIES SHALL CREATE A REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY.

YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE RIGHT AND REMEDY IN CASE OF DISSATISFACTION WITH THE WEBSITE, RELATED SERVICES, OR ANY OTHER GRIEVANCE SHALL BE YOUR TERMINATION AND DISCONTINUATION OF ACCESS TO, OR USE OF THE WEBSITE.

THE REVIEWBUZZ ENTITIES’ MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR LOSSES OR DAMAGES THAT YOU SUFFER IN CONNECTION WITH THE WEBSITE OR THESE TERMS IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (i) THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO THE REVIEWBUZZ ENTITIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE WEBSITE IN THE 12 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE ACTION GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY, OR (ii) $100.

Governing Law & Venue. California law will govern these Terms, as well as any claim, cause of action or dispute that might arise between you and ReviewBuzz (a “Claim”), without regard to conflict of law provisions. FOR ANY CLAIM BROUGHT BY EITHER PARTY, YOU AGREE TO SUBMIT AND CONSENT TO THE PERSONAL AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION IN, AND THE EXCLUSIVE VENUE OF, THE STATE AND FEDERAL COURTS LOCATED WITHIN SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

Termination. Subject to the terms of a Purchase Order related to any paid subscription, you may terminate the Terms at any time by closing your account, discontinuing your use of the Website, and providing ReviewBuzz with a notice of termination here. Please review our Privacy Policy for information about what we do with your account when terminated.

We may close your account, suspend your ability to use certain portions of the Website, and/or ban you altogether from the Website for any or no reason, and without notice or liability of any kind. Any such action could prevent you from accessing your account, the Website, Your Content, Website Content, or any other related information.

In the event of any termination of these Terms, whether by you or us, Sections 1, 7-21 will continue in full force and effect, including our right to use Your Content as detailed in Section 7.

General. We reserve the right to modify, update, or discontinue the Website at our sole discretion, at any time, for any or no reason, and without notice or liability. We may provide you with notices, including those regarding changes to the Terms by email, regular mail or communications through the Website. Nothing herein is intended, nor will be deemed, to confer rights or remedies upon any third party. The Terms contain the entire agreement between you and us regarding the use of the Website, and supersede any prior agreement between you and us on such subject matter. The parties acknowledge that no reliance is placed on any representation made but not expressly contained in these Terms. Any failure on ReviewBuzz’s part to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. The failure of either party to exercise in any respect any right provided for herein shall not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder. If any provision of the Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, then only that provision shall be modified to reflect the parties’ intention or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that the Terms shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable. ReviewBuzz and its collaborators and affiliates cannot be held responsible for any delay or malfunction brought about directly or indirectly by causes outside the control of ReviewBuzz. This includes, but is not limited to: malfunctioning of ReviewBuzz technical equipment, broken connection to Internet or telephone lines, computer viruses, unauthorized access to ReviewBuzz system, operation errors, strike etc. The Terms, and any rights or obligations hereunder, are not assignable, transferable or sub-licensable by you except with ReviewBuzz’s prior written consent, but may be assigned or transferred by us without restriction. Any attempted assignment by you shall violate these Terms and be void. The section titles in the Terms are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.